Alexander F. Mathews
59th Virginia Infantry 1861-1863 |battles = |awards= }} Alexander Ferdinand Mathews (November 13, 1838 – December 17, 1906) was an American businessman and banker from Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). During the American Civil War he served as a captain and aide-de-camp to General Henry A. Wise in the Confederate States Army. He was afterwards a member of the West Virginia University Board of Regents. Early life Alexander F. Mathews born on November 13, 1838, in Frankford, Greenbrier County, Virginia, to Eliza (née Reynolds) and Mason Mathews. He enrolled in the University of Virginia in 1854 at the age of fifteen, earning a Masters of Arts.Combs, James Thurl (1987). "Greenbrier, C.S.A. Wartime Letters of Mason Mathews to his son Captain Joseph William Mathews, C.S.A." The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society (Parsons, West Virginia: Greenbrier Historical Society) V (1): 5-44. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.University of Virginia (1907). Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia, Volume 7. University of Virginia Press, 1907, p 318 https://books.google.com/books?id=4d5KAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA317Brown, James T. (1917). Catalogue of Beta theta pi. J. T. Brown, 1917 p798 https://books.google.com/books?id=KGs4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PR407 Retrieved April 26, 2013. He returned to the University of Virginia School of Law in 1857, and in the same year was admitted to the bar. Civil War Mathews volunteered for the Confederate States Army on the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. He was assigned to the 59th Virginia Infantry and received a commission of captain despite having no formal military training. Additionally, he served as aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Henry A. Wise during Wise's early campaigns. He was relieved from duty with the 59th Virginia Infantry on June 22, 1863, and was appointed Inspector of Conscription for the 8th Congressional District of Virginia for the remainder of the war. Postbellum He was appointed to the West Virginia University Board of Regents during that institution's infancy, and served on the board from 1871-1881,West Virginia University. Undergraduate catalog, Volume 1867-1869. Morgantown, WV : The University. https://archive.org/stream/undergrad6769west/undergrad6769west_djvu.txt Retrieved April 28, 2013. also establishing a law practice with brother Henry M. Mathews.Calohill, et al (1909). The Virginia Law Register, Volume 14. J.P. Bell, 1909, p 484 https://books.google.com/books?id=HHgzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA478 Retrieved April 26, 2013 In 1871, with Adam C. Snydor and Homer A. Holt, he founded the first bank in Greenbrier County, the Bank of Lewisburg, which was until 1888 the only bank between Staunton, Virginia and Charleston, West Virginia.Greenbrier Historical Society (1938) Greenbrier Historical Society Historical Booklet, Greenbrier Co., 1938. http://www.lewisburg.org/history/mathewsbio.htm Retrieved 2012-10-19 He later took part in the founding the First National Bank of Ronceverte, when it was chartered by the State of West Virginia in 1888.First National Bank (2013). First National Bank: Celebrating 125 Years. http://www.wvbankers.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/FirstNationalBankCelebrates125%20Years.pdf He died on December 16, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was buried at the Old Stone Church in Lewisburg, West Virginia. See also * Mathews political family References Category:1838 births Category:1906 deaths Category:American bankers Category:American financiers Category:Military personnel from West Virginia Category:Beta Theta Pi Category:Burials in West Virginia Category:Confederate States Army officers Category:Educators from West Virginia Category:Mathews family of Virginia and West Virginia Category:People from Lewisburg, West Virginia Category:People of Virginia in the American Civil War Category:People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Category:University of Virginia alumni Category:Virginia lawyers Category:West Virginia Democrats Category:West Virginia lawyers Category:West Virginia University people Category:People from Greenbrier County, West Virginia